Richard Branson could launch a rival to Uber

‘We should be competing with Uber,’ Virgin billionaire has said

Uber has been banned in numerous cities across the worldPhoto: Getty

Sir Richard Branson could launch a rival to taxi-hailing app Uber, the Virgin founder has admitted.

The billionaire, who has built a conglomerate spanning transport, financial services and telecommunications, said his company should be involved in the sharing economy, competing with the likes of Uber and home-renting service Airbnb.

“I quite often say to our team, ‘We should be competing with Airbnb. We should be competing with Uber'”

Sir Richard Branson

“I quite often say to our team, ‘We should be competing with Airbnb. We should be competing with Uber. We’ve got the brand,’” Sir Richard told Mashable. “Maybe one day we’ll set up an alternative.”

The Brit was an early investor in Uber, telling Bloomberg recently that it’s “ridiculous how well it’s done”.

“You cannot stop progress and you can’t turn the clock back,” he said, speaking at the Virgin StartUp Foodpreneur event in London. “Once you’ve let the genie out of the box and people are benefiting from something, you can’t put it back in.

Sir Richard Branson Photo: Rex

“Countries that try to ban Uber are holding themselves back,” he said. “It’s like banning Google because it’s competing with education. You must embrace it.”

Uber has been banned in a number of cities across the world over fears it is anti-competitive, as drivers can charge lower fares than traditional cabs.